Eternal flame
by just.an.avengers.fan
Summary: 52 years old Clint sits down with his kids to tell them the story of how he met their mother. It has the others Avengers too. Clintasha AU based on How I Met Your Mother. It is rated M but actually it doesn't have much of it.
1. Chapter 1: The one

**Hi, everyone. This is my second story about these two and my first AU. As I said in the summary, it will be based on How I Met Your Mother. I just have finished watching that serie and I loved it. So I'm going to use some of their quotes. Also, the others avengers will be part of the group so it won't be that equal, just so you know. **

**One more thing, when Future Clint will be talking, it would be in italics. Enjoy the first chapter.**

Year 2036...

_"Kids, I'm going to tell you an incredible story, the story of how I met your mother" 52 years old Clint told to his son and daughter_

_"Are we being punished or something?" Asked Clint's son _

_"No" replied Clint_

_"Dad, is this going to take a while?" Said the daughter_

_"Yes, twenty-five years ago, before I was a dad, I had this whole other life" Clint said_

Year 2011...

_I was an architect living in NY with your uncle Tony. I had these dreams to become a successful architect and design a building that would be part of the NY's view. Tony had been dating your aunt Pepper for nine years when he finally decided to propose._

"Will you marry me?" said Tony who was kneeling.

"Yes!" Clint said exited "Man you're going to get married!"

"I know…I love so much Pepper, I really hope she'll say 'yes'" said Tony looking to the ring.

"Oh come on, of course she'll say yes" Clint said.

_And she did._

"Virginia Potts, will you marry me?" Tony said as he previously practiced.

"Yes!" Pepper said with a huge smile on her face and they kissed and something else.

Hours later...

"Congratulations, to two of my best friends. You guys deserve to be happy the rest of your life" Clint said and everyone raised their drinks. They were at a bar called MacLaren's Pub. It was right above the building where Clint's apartment was, so it was a very good place to hang out.

"To Tony and Pepper" Bruce said. They continued to talk when Clint stood up and got to the bar followed by Steve.

"Hey, what's up, buddy?" Asked Steve, he noticed that Clint was weird.

"I don't know, it's just that Tony's engagement made me start thinking 'what if I never find _the one'_, you know? What if I never get married and have a family" Clint confessed as he watched Tony and Pepper celebrating with Bruce and Thor.

"Oh come on, you're still young, you're 27! Don't get desperate, you'll find someone" Steve said to Clint touching his shoulder "In the meantime, look at your surroundings, you have so many possibilities around"

_And he was right, kids have you ever seen an old movie, __where the sailor sees the girl across the crowded dance floor, turns to his buddy and says, "See that girl? I'm gonna marry her someday." Well it was pretty much like that._

"Hey, look at that girl" Clint said while looking at a woman.

"She's beautiful, go talk to her" Steve said pushing him.

"What, no!"

"Oh please" Steve said and went to talk to her and got her with him "This is my friend Clint" Steve said, Clint and the woman stayed looking at each other for a second "I'll leave you two alone" and he sat down again with the other guys.

"Hi, sorry about that" Clint apologized for Steve.

"It's ok" She said smiling.

"So...I was thinking, we could go to dinner next Friday" Clint asked not very sure of what was happening.

"Next week I'm going to be out of the city"

"Oh...ok, how about tomorrow?" Clint tried one more time.

"Ok, tomorrow's fine," She said smiling.

"Really? Great!" Clint said surprised.

"I gotta go, here is my number, send me a message and I'll send you my address. I'll see you tomorrow Clint" She said and the left the bar. Clint couldn't believe what just happened but he was happy and decided to make this date work. After some thinking he returned with his friends to keep celebrating.

The next day, Clint was at the bar telling his friends how was his date...

"So we got to the restaurant and we talked about each other...I'm just...she's the one, I can feel it" Clint said really excited.

"Ok, but tell us more, what makes her so perfect?" Pepper asked.

"We kept talking for a while. I told her I am an architect and that in my free time I like to do some archery"

"Oh no, Clint, you did not mention the archery" Tony said disappointed.

"Relax, she actually said it was awesome"

"She mentioned the blue French horn that was framed on the wall"

"A French horn…really?" Bruce said with a 'are you kidding me' look.

"She mentioned it, not me"

"Then..." Pepper said impatient.

"She asked me more about the archery and I told her we could go to the shooting field and show her something"

"Nice" Tony said.

"We got there..." Clint made a pause.

"And?" Pepper asked while everyone was looking at Clint.

"Nothing, she received a call from her boss, he wanted to see her to discuss her new contract, so she had to leave. But she's great"

"So, you kissed her?" Pepper asked.

"What?"

"You kiss her, before she left, you kissed her, right?" Steve asked.

"Well, no"

"What?" Bruce shouted. Everyone looked at Clint

"You think I should have?"

"Yes!" Steve said.

"Of course, Clint! You took her to dinner, you had fun with her and yet you didn't kiss her" Pepper said as she slapping Clint.

"Ouch, Thor, help me"

"I'm sorry, friend, you should have kissed her"

"So...what should I do, you think I should go to her apartment"

"Yeah, come on, we'll grab a cab" Tony said and quickly everyone exit the bar.

_So we got a cab and headed to her apartment. Bruce said he had to leave to the lab for some emergency, which was a relief 'cause there was no way six persons would get into a normal cab. _

"You're ready!" Said Steve.

"Yes...wait" He said to the driver. Clint then got out of the cab leaving the rest confused on the back. When he returned he was carrying the blue French horn he mentioned from the restaurant.

"What are you doing?" Thor asked "You just stole it" talking about the instrument

"Shut up, I have a plan...let's go" The driver kept going until they arrived to the apartment.

"Ok, we're here" Clint said looking through the window.

"Great, now go, kiss her...we'll be waiting here, text us if we should go" Pepper said encouraging Clint. Clint nodded and got out from the cab, everyone was looking at him as he approached to the bell and called her.

"She's not going to answer, maybe we should..." Clint was telling to his friends when a girl called him from one of the windows, it was her.

"Clint? What are you doing here" She said.

"I bring you a present...you remember this" He said as he showed her the French horn.

"Oh god...come on up" She said smiling. Clint turned to his friends who smile at him with thumbs up.

"Hey!" It was the only thing that escaped from his mouth.

"Hey, come in..." She said and Clint entered the apartment "I _do _remember that" she pointed to the French horn smiling.

"Yeah, I thought...since you liked it, I could bring it to you...as a present" Clint said a little embarrassed.

"How did you get it?" She said holding it.

"Well..." He said as he remembered what happened

Flashback...

Clint got out of the cab and entered to the restaurant. He looked at the instrument and without thinking he grabbed it from the wall. The waitress started yelling at him so he tried to get her distracted. He poured wine at the man in the table near. Everyone started yelling and Clint managed to get out of there.

"It was easy" He said looking at her.

"You stole it...for me?" She said blushing.

"You really liked it" That made Natasha laugh a little. They continued to stare for a while.

Meanwhile at the cab, Tony was getting bored.

"Come on, he's fine. Let's go" Tony said

"No! He'll text us. I hope he has already kissed her" Pepper said looking to the window of her apartment.

In the apartment there was Clint, they seemed like if they were dancing a slow song. She had her arms around his neck while his arms where at her waist. The blue French horn was on top of a ledge from the false hearth.

"You're so beautiful" He said with a sweet voice "I think I'm in love with you"

"What!" She shouted. How could he say something like that?

"Oh god, what did I just said...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...It's not that…" Clint said in complete panic. "I should go, see you" He quickly left leaving her speechless.

At the street, his friends were still waiting for him. They saw him walking out of the building with his head down.

"What happened?" Pepper asked as soon as he got into the cab.

"I need a drink" That was all he said until they got to the bar.

They sat on their usual place, everyone was concerned about Clint but still they waited for him to say something.

"I'm such an idiot" Clint said after he drank a few of his beer.

"You didn't kiss her?" Tony asked.

"No"

"Why?" Steve said confused.

"I told her I was in love with her" Clint said with his head like if he was looking to the roof but with his eyes were closed. He was really ashamed.

"You said what?" Thor said and everyone was looking at Clint with the expression 'what is wrong with you' in their face.

"Why. Did. You. Say. That?" Pepper said hitting him in his arm at every word.

"It just came out of my mouth" He said "I'll never see her again" He said putting his head on the table.

_And that kids, that's the story of how I met your aunt Natasha_

_"What!" Both kids said._

_"I thought this was about mom?" said the daughter._

_"Relax kids, I warned you it will take long"_

**So here it is, like I said I had to modify some things to get along with the other avengers' personalities. I know it may confuse the way it is written. Clint is telling to his kids the story, but the description of the scenes is narrated in third person. I know it's weird, but this way I have more chance to get into details. Anyway, tell me what you think. **


	2. Chapter 2: Just friends

_Kids, so you know how I met your aunt Natasha and how I messed everything up. Anyway, a week had passed since I told her I was in love with her on our first date. So I decided not to see her again._

"I'm telling you, I will never see her again. It's too embarrassing" Clint was telling to Tony as they entered to the MacLaren's.

"Yeah, you should probably go then" Tony said as he saw Natasha talking with Pepper and drinking.

"Oh my god! Pepper what is she doing…maybe she is making fun of me" Clint said in panic. Then Natasha said goodbye to Pepper and left the bar without noticing the two gentlemen. As soon as Natasha left, Clint and Tony sat with Pepper.

"Pepper, what was she doing here?" asked Clint.

"Well…I heard her talking on the phone about a ballet presentation and I asked her if she was a professional dancer. Then we kept talking, you're right, she's really cool." said Pepper.

"Professional dancer eh?" said Steve just arriving with Bruce.

"Yeah, she came to New York to try her luck in a ballet."

"Did she say something about me?" Clint asked desperately.

"Actually she said you were nice and that she liked you. But with the whole 'I'm in love with you' thing you shocked her big time"

"She liked me?" He said surprised.

"Oh please!" Steve said knowing what Clint was thinking.

"No, no, no wait…I got a plan" Clint said and then got out his phone. "Hey, Natasha"

"Hey…Clint" Natasha's voice could be heard from the phone.

"So I was wondering…Tony and I are going to throw a party at our place tomorrow Friday. You want to come?" Clint said with some hesitations; he was very nervous she would say 'no'. When Tony heard what Clint said, he started making signs to Clint which he ignored.

"Well…yeah I guess" Natasha said making Clint smile.

"Great thanks, I'll send you the address." Clint said before hanging up.

"Man, a party? I need to work." Tony said.

"You can work there, it's going to be fine…Please come on" Clint begged.

_The next day, Tony and I threw the party. The only problem was that Natasha didn't come. _

"She's not going to come" Clint said drinking and looking around.

"Forget about her, there are so many girls at this party. Just choose one and go." Steve said. Clint looked disappointed.

The next day, Clint called Natasha.

"Hey" Clint said on the phone.

"Hey. Sorry about yesterday. I had to practice one of my parts." Natasha said.

"It's ok…actually the party continues this night." Clint said. He didn't know what he was doing, he just said it.

"Oh, well then I guess I would come tonight" Natasha said.

"Great" Clint said worried. He knew Tony wouldn't like this.

"Another party! Clint, I need to hand this on Monday. My boss is going to kill me" Tony said.

"Tony, your boss is your father" Clint said looking at him.

"I know" He replied drinking his beer.

_At night we threw the party, but Natasha still didn't appear._

"Hey, I thought we would see you last night". Clint said to Natasha. He found her in a newsstand.

"Yeah, I know. The choreographer called and I had to go. Maybe if the party continued today…"

"It does…It actually ends until today" Clint said quickly without thinking.

"Ok, see you tonight"

_And we threw a third party…_

"What did you do?" Tony asked very angry at some guys. "This is my book!" They had thrown some food on it. "This has to stop…Clint" He said

"Hey what's wrong, man?" Clint said relaxed.

"What's wrong is that you have thrown three parties just for a girl who cares a hell about it…" Tony began shouting.

"Tony…" Clint tried to make him stop.

"No. She' not here…" Tony said and stopped when he saw Natasha with Pepper.

"Oh, hi Natasha" Tony said before running to Pepper leaving Clint and Natasha by their own.

"You threw these parties for me?" Natasha asked confused.

"What? No, I…did it because I wanted you to meet him" And he pointed at a random guy. She didn't believe him and he noticed it. "Can we talk somewhere else?" Natasha followed him to the roof where they were really alone.

"Look, I didn't invite you to meet someone…or the one before this…or the one before that" He began explaining and she smile. "I just wanted to see you, I needed some excuse."

"Well here I am" Natasha said.

"I know I messed things up last time we saw…but I know there's something more here. Unless I'm getting crazy"

"You're not crazy. The thing is that we had a date one night; we really don't know each other. And still you look at me like…"

"Like what?" Clint interrupted.

"Like 'let's fall in love and get married with kids'…It's just that…you're looking at the wrong girl"

"No I'm not" Clint tried to tell her

"Yes you are. I don't want to get married, at least not now. I don't even know if I want kids. And if we were together either I break up with you and break your heart or I marry you. None of those things I want to do it to you. And you're so ready for those things and it's not going to change." Natasha confessed to Clint.

"It's ok, of course I want to get married and have a family. But I also want you and if that's what it takes then I could switch off" Clint said leaning to kiss her.

"What? You can't switch off…" She couldn't talk more. Clint kissed her. It was a long kiss.

"You're right, I can't. I wish I could." Clint said stopping the kiss.

"I know…but we can be friends" Natasha suggested.

"Don't you think it could be awkward" Clint said with doubts.

_It was, but when there is someone as cool as Natasha things get pretty well._

"So you're Russian?" Steve asked to Natasha. They got reunited at the bar after the party. Clint introduced her to his friends.

"Yep…I auditioned at the New York ballet and they said I got the paper. It's a minor one but it's a start. So I came here, in a country where I know no one, no friends…" Natasha said while drinking some vodka.

"What are you talking…here you got six friends" Pepper said to her.

"Oh thank you guys… then I'll get the next round" She said and stood up to the bar.

**Ok, so here is the second chapter. These two first chapters are actually very alike to the real first two chapters of the series but the next ones are going to change and time will pass faster. Bruce and Thor are also in the gang but the principals are going to be Clint, Natasha, Tony, Pepper and Steve.**


	3. Chapter 3: The wedding

**Sorry for the delay, but I'm writing another story and I had to think how this would continue. Anyway, here it is.**

_So kids, it had been a few weeks and Natasha and I were trying to be friends._

"Hey, what's up?" Clint said as he sat down in their table at the bar.

"Were talking about the wedding" Natasha answered.

"Great, you know where you want it to be?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, we were thinking on a small wedding, we don't want to be public even when Tony is a Stark. We want intimacy, just friends." Pepper shared.

"Nice, Natasha, how's it going in your job" Clint said.

"Well, I'm new so I'm taking small roles…but its ok everyone starts from the ground." Natasha said.

"Really, so can we go and see you?" Steve said.

"I don't think you would keep yourself awake for the entire ballet, Steve" Natasha said.

"Ok, I'm going to prove you wrong. When is your next presentation?" Steve said.

"Next Saturday"

"Great, I'm going to be there"

"And also us, it would be nice" Pepper said.

"Ok then" Natasha said smiling.

_So that night, we all went to see Natasha perform. Guys, I tell you, your aunt rocked._

"That was so beautiful" Pepper said. "Don't you think Tony?"

"Sure" He answered.

"Oh here she comes" Bruce said referring to Natasha as she came out of the theatre.

"Hey, so Steve what do you think?" Natasha said as he looked Steve with a sleepy face.

"Yeah sure, it was great" He said.

"Really, when did I appear?" Natasha tested him.

"Umm…you know" Steve said looking at the others for a clue. "At the second act"

"You have no idea, right. Did you even know which ballet was?" Natasha said waiting for the answer. "Forget it, so we go now?" Natasha said. The gang went to Clint's place and kept talking for quite a while.

_But you know guys, is hard to be friends with a girl you like. So when my friend Mark was going to get married, I decided to ask Natasha to be my date._

Clint was sitting on the coach looking at the invitation for Mark's wedding. He was a friend from college and was marring his girlfriend Karen. He was looking at the card to check if you'll have a date or not. Clint always said he will have a date even if he didn't know. Then he got ready to work and after that he reunited with the guys at the bar hoping he could talk to Natasha.

When he arrived the guys start talking about random things and at one moment everyone went to the bar for more drinks except Clint and Natasha.

"So, look I know that we decided to be friends and everything but my friend Mark is getting married and I was wondering if you want to be my date...I don't want to ask a stranger." Clint said.

"Umm...yeah sure. But, it's this Saturday, that gives me like 5 days to buy a dress" She said looking at her phone. "I gotta go, Pepper." She said. Pepper came and she told her about the dress. They got out of the bar as soon as possible to start looking for dresses.

They went to every store they knew to look for dresses. There were many beautiful.

"Hey, you seem pretty excited" Pepper said.

"You know what, I'm actually glad he asked me" Natasha said looking at the dresses.

"I thought you wanted to be just friends"

"I know but…" Natasha stopped taking a dress.

"Oh, it's beautiful" Pepper said admiring the dress.

Saturday arrived and Clint went to pick up Natasha.

"Hey" Pepper said opening the door. "Oh you're going to love the dress, it's beautiful" Pepper said but without opening.

"I bet it is" Clint said.

"You know, she was really excited about this" Pepper confesed.

"Really?"

"Yeah…well, I gotta go. See you" Pepper said getting out. Clint then opened the door.

"Hey…wow" Was the only thing Clint could say after he saw Natasha standing with her dress. It was a beautiful one; the color was salmon, strapless. It was very simple, but it looked great. Natasha left her curls fall with a side bang on the left.

"Hi, so?" She said referring to the dress.

"You look amazing" Clint said still astonished.

"Thank you" She smiled. "Shall we go?"

"Sure" Clint said offering his arm. She was going to grab his arm when the phone rang. Natasha turned and answered it.

"What…but" She was saying confused. "But, now…you're serious, I'm…" She kept saying. Clint could hear that they were offering her to replace one of the main ballerinas in that night's show. "Umm…ok. I'll be there in 15 minutes" She said impulsively. When she hung up she looked at Clint with no words. "Go" Was Clint's answer. He knew that this was very important to Natasha.

"I'm sorry" Natasha said.

"It's ok. Steve is going to be there too" Clint said. Even when he was disappointed, he wasn't going to say anything to make her go with him.

"Alright, well, I have to change" She said. Clint said goodbye and wished her good luck before leaving.

At the wedding, Clint was sitting at the table when Steve came with him.

"This is great" Steve said. "Hey, come on, man" He noticed Clint wasn't having much fun.

"Sorry, I really wanted to come with her"

"I know, but you know maybe you will be just friends. You need to over her."

Steve left him again. Clint was looking around the room when he saw another girl also sitting at the table from across the room. He smile and decided to talk to her. Maybe Steve was right, it was time to move on.

"Hi" Clint said nervous.

"Hi" She answered.

"I'm Clint. I'm a friend of Mark."

"I'm Sara. I'm the organizer of the wedding"

"Well, you did a good job" Clint said. From that moment on he and Sara kept talking all night.

Meanwhile, at the theatre were Natasha was presenting. She was getting ready, very nervous. She knew that if she did this right, the choreographer could give her a permanent roll that was bigger. The ballet started and Natasha did a great job. She was congratulated. After the presentation, Natasha noticed that it was still time to arrive at the party. She wanted to surprise Clint since she practically left him alone. But when she arrived she saw him with Sara talking and laughing. She felt horrible and went to the bathroom to cry. Then she left.

"Well it's late. Do you want me to take you home?" Clint offered.

"Oh no, look this was great and everything…but it something that happens at weddings. Don't misunderstand me, I had a great time but we should never see us again" She said.

"Wait, so that's it?" He said frustrated.

"I'm sorry, Clint" She said getting closer to him as if she was going to kiss him. Clint closed his eyes to kiss her but after a couple of seconds he opened them again to discover that she was gone. Disappointed he left the room and went back to his place.

The next day at the bar, he told his friends about Sara. He was decided to find her no matter what she said. Natasha was acting as if she was ok with it, but really she was angry with herself for not being there with him.


	4. Chapter 4: Go for it

**Hi guys, I know it's been forever since I last updated this story. Sorry, I just got zero inspiration to write this one. Well, but here I am again. Thank you for those who have followed the story, it's great that you liked it so far. **

**Ok, don't wait longer, here it is.**

Clint had been investigating who was the mysterious girl from the weeding. All he knew was his name and it wasn't much. He was trying so hard to find her. After Natasha's rejection, he was going to take a break. But then he met Sara and all those emotions of meeting a person and instantly appears a sparkle came back.

"Alright guys, I'm almost there. I called Hannah and she told me that Sara was the planner of the weeding. She even gave me her office number." Clint said super excited sitting next to the gang at his living room.

"You really have a problem" Thor said.

"Yeah, well, call me whatever you want. I'm going to find that girl." Clint replied. Natasha was there listening to Clint. She had made a big mistake, probably she will regret it her whole life, but it was her opportunity of appear on stage with a more important roll. And she knew that when you denied an offer like this you'll never get it again.

"So, what? You're gonna call her?" Steve asked.

"I don't know." Clint said.

"You're crazy" Pepper said.

"I know" Clint said and joined the guys who were watching a game.

"How about that?" Pepper said and Natasha stood up to go to the kitchen. Pepper remembered that Natasha actually felt bad and followed her. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Yes, I was just thinking if I could have been at the weeding, he wouldn't have met Sara."

"Nat what's going on?" Pepper asked.

"So you know I had to work the night of the weeding. Well, I finished and I noticed I still make it to the weeding and went…and when I arrived I saw Clint with Sara. So I left, went to the bathroom and cried."

"Oh" Pepper got sad by the story.

"I don't even know why I cried. I felt so stupid."

"Honey, you cried 'cause it hurt you watching Clint with someone else." She touched her shoulder. "You should tell him."

"Tell him what? 'Hey Clint, remember that I rejected you, well now I do want you'" She said. "I can't do that."

"Of course you can!"

"No, Sara seems like a nice girl who maybe wants to get married and have kids. Even if I feel something for him, I still don't want the same he does. He deserves to be happy."

"And he will…with you!" Pepper insisted. Natasha kept saying 'no'.

"Hey, guys. I called to the number Hannah gave to me and it is the office in the building just a few blocks from here." Clint said even more exited. "I have to go." He said standing up and grabbing his coat.

"Come on man, now?" Bruce said.

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing" Pepper said turning to Natasha with a look like 'say something'.

Natasha understood Pepper's sign. "Go for it, Barton" She said smiling. Clint smiled at her back and left the apartment.

Clint was walking through the streets thinking what it would be to see her again. He almost gave up searching but didn't. He started to think what he was going to say but nothing felt right. He finally arrived to the building. He stayed looking at it getting the courage to get in. He took the elevator and reached the floor.

He saw the office with the name 'Sara Williams' on it. He could hear she was talking to someone on the phone immediately recognizing her voice and waited till she hung up.

"Come in" Sara said after Clint knocked the door. Clint opened the door and looked at her. Sara turned to see who it was and when she saw him she froze. They stayed without moving for a second.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" She said with a mixture of surprise and excitement in her voice. Clint didn't answer; he just pulled her and kissed her. She returned the kiss.

"It wasn't just a weeding thing." Clint said after their kiss breathless.

"I know" She said and kissed him again.

**I know it's a short chapter, but at least it's something. I hope you like it. Sorry if I made you suffer.**

**Please leave a review. **


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